Headrest Apparatus for Vehicle

• US 20090069985A1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Aoki, Koji, Sakai, Morio
• Granted Patent: US 8,103,415 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/49
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0276 reaction to emergency situations, e.g. crash
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4279 electric or electronic triggering
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/888 with arrangements for protecting against abnormal g-forces, e.g. by displacement of the head-rest

Abstract

A headrest apparatus for a vehicle includes a headrest rear portion supported at a seatback, a headrest front portion movable between a fully closed position and a fully open position, a driving device for moving the headrest front portion, a capacitance sensor detecting a change in capacitance in association with an approach of the head of an occupant, and a controlling device for controlling the headrest front portion to move to the fully open position in response to information that a vehicle is approaching from the rear, the controlling device controlling the driving device to stop a movement of the headrest front portion when the head of the occupant is detected on the basis of a detection signal from the capacitance sensor, the controlling device including a first filter having a first cutoff frequency and a second filter having a second cutoff frequency lower than the first cutoff frequency.

Claims

1. A headrest for a vehicle, comprising:

a headrest rear portion supported at a seatback;

a headrest front portion movable between a fully closed position in which the headrest front portion is close to the headrest rear portion, and a fully open position in which the headrest front portion is away from the headrest rear portion;

driving means for moving the headrest front portion;

a capacitance sensor detecting a change in capacitance in association with an approach of the head of an occupant; and

controlling means for controlling the headrest front portion to move to the fully open position in response to information that a vehicle is approaching from the rear, the controlling means controlling the driving means to stop a movement of the headrest front portion when the head of the occupant is detected on the basis of a detection signal from the capacitance sensor, the controlling means including a first filter having a first cutoff frequency and a second filter having a second cutoff frequency lower than the first cutoff frequency.

2. A headrest apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlling means control the first filter and the second filter to start operating at the same time as an operation start of the capacitance sensor.

3. A headrest apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controlling means detect the head of the occupant within a predetermined time by using the first filter.

4. A headrest apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the controlling means control the first filter to operate for the predetermined time and, after the elapse of the predetermined time, detect the head of the occupant by using the second filter.

5. A headrest apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first filter is a low-pass filter specified to be a predetermined frequency for eliminating an exogenous noise.

6. A headrest apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first filter eliminates an exogenous noise by means of the first cutoff frequency.

7. A headrest apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first cutoff frequency is specified in a range from 7 Hz to 10 Hz.

8. A headrest apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second cutoff frequency is specified in a range from 3 Hz to 5 Hz.